Thursday, April 25, 2013

Alec couldn’t be more surprised when the “burglar” he swings
a baseball bat toward turns out to be Christian, the lover who walked out on
him six months ago. He never imagined Christian would come back, but secretly
his heart had continued to hope all that time.

Christian returns to Alec, ready to face the consequences of
his rash actions and deal with all of the issues he still has with trust in
relationships. He can feel that Alec wants him, but Alec makes it clear he’s
tired of being the pushover in their relationship. Christian struggles not to
be possessive and dominating, while Alec learns how erotic it can be to make
another submit to his will. Can Christian learn to submit completely, or will
he lose everything because he can’t let go and trust his lover?

Excerpt:

Alec froze when he
heard a key slip into the front door of his apartment. Silence followed, but
then the key turned very slowly, as if the person didn’t want to be heard.
Silence again. He checked the bedside clock, which showed two minutes until
midnight. Did some drunk person have the wrong apartment? Maybe he’d only
imagined hearing the locking pins give way. He threw his book aside and jumped
out of bed when he heard the knob turn and the door creak open. His hand found
the baseball bat that always rested next to his bed, and he advanced slowly. If
he could be as quiet as the intruder, he might stand a chance. Standing at only
five-nine and weighing maybe one hundred and eighty pounds, Alec usually backed
down from any physical conflict, but what choice did he have? He wasn’t going
to hide in a closet while someone robbed him. His cell phone was charging in
the kitchen, so he couldn’t even call for help from where he was. He had to try
to stop the intruder himself.

As Alec tiptoed down
the hall, the intruder came into sight. The guy was over six feet tall, broad-shouldered,
and well muscled from what Alec could see. Why was he simply standing in the
middle of the living room? Letting his eyes adjust to the dark? A chill went
through Alec. Or had the burglar heard someone in the apartment and tensed for
a fight? Alec took his chance and swung the bat at the man’s head, gasping in
surprise when the guy whirled around and stopped the bat with one hand. Alec
stumbled back and dropped the bat, fear gripping him. He wasn’t worried this
guy would rob him, but he had every reason to believe the man would break his
heart. Again.

“Alec?”

The whispered word
caused Alec to draw in a sharp breath, but for a moment he couldn’t get his
lips to move. He slid down the wall, unable to stand any longer as his legs
shook.

“Alec, are you
hurt?”

A lamp came on,
and Alec looked up into Christian’s deep blue eyes as the man knelt beside him.
Alec shook his head.

“You look awful,”
Christian said, reaching out to touch Alec.

Alec slapped his
hand away and found his voice as anger surged within him. “How would you look
if your lover walked out on you because of a misunderstanding? How do you think
you’d look after six months of silence and anguish?”

Christian’s normally
unreadable expression cracked a bit as he hung his head. “I came back because I
found out it was a misunderstanding. I’m sorry.”

Alec struck out
and hit Christian on the shoulder, hardly budging him even an inch. “You’re
sorry? That’s a pile of shit. I told you it was a misunderstanding the day it
happened. I left you hundreds of messages! I scoured this city and couldn’t
find you!”

“I went home and
stayed with my grandmother. Got a job and didn’t look back.” Christian raised
his head. “I didn’t want to be in the city without you.”

“So you were just
going to come in here and slip into bed with me? Seriously?” He waited for an
answer as they searched each other’s faces. He would never admit that such a
plan would likely have worked, that he probably would have willingly gone into
Christian’s arms and forgiven him. He had to stay strong. As long as they
didn’t touch, Alec believed he would be able to resist.

“No. I was going
to sleep here on the couch and wake you up with breakfast. The first of many apologies.”

“You’ve got a lot
of those to make. Our friends, Dr. Frances, your landlady. I took all your shit
and stored it because I felt bad for her. She couldn’t bring herself to get rid
of it. Yeah, she was always a bit weird, but she’s a sweet old lady, and you
had her worrying herself sick. Things were insane in the department, and
everyone had to jump in and do your work until we found another assistant. I
had to teach your freshman labs. Doctor Frances was very disappointed because
you were always his favorite grad student, which of course made you his
favorite employee after graduation. Everyone was scared and wanted to call the
cops, but we knew they’d just laugh at us.” Alec took a breath and glared at
Christian. “And honestly, I can’t see why you’d want me back at all. You
obviously have a pretty fucking low opinion of me, given what you assumed.”

Alec struggled to
his feet and started down the hall, but Christian grabbed his arm. Alec tried
to pull away, but as always Christian was much too strong. “Let me go,” he
whispered.

“No.” Christian
yanked Alec back to the floor and pinned him beneath him. “Just listen.”

Alec could hardly
breathe as he lay trapped beneath Christian’s amazing hard body. Christian had
straddled him and pinned his hands over his head. Alec couldn’t take Christian
being so close, and he soon worried his cock would give him away. He hated
being so weak, hated still being in love with the man who had nearly destroyed
him.